Abstract
The EDUCAtional Technology Exchange programme (EDUCATE) at UCL Institute of Education provides the context for this paper, which describes the programme’s vision, objectives and key activities, and sets the context for the collection of articles that follow. This university-led programme was underpinned by Luckin’s (2016) golden triangle of evidence-informed educational technology (edtech) as it sought to support 252 small and medium-sized enterprises to become more research-informed through a six-month research training and mentoring programme. The evaluation of the programme’s design-based research cycles revealed the importance of the careful choice and evolution of its boundary objects. These boundary objects, namely each enterprise’s ‘logic model’ and research proposal, facilitated meaningful conversations between the programme’s research mentors and the enterprises. These boundary objects involved several iterations, during which the language of the two communities became more aligned, helping to bridge the academic knowledge and practices with those of the enterprises.
Highlights
Key messages A design-based research methodology resulted in a university-based programme that enabled small and medium-sized enterprises in the educational technology sector to work closely with academia to support the creation of more research-informed products and services
The educational technology sector is a subsection of the global technology industry that is focused on the design, development and scaling of digital products and services that address issues that relate to all aspects of human learning
This resulted in a more applied curriculum that included further case studies that brought the theoretical ideas to life, and involved more practical activities in which participants were tasked to work on the boundary objects such as their logic models
Summary
The overall purpose of EDUCATE is to advance the efficacy of EdTech through an evidence-informed process by making the best research evidence and practice accessible for educators, researchers and technology developers. The main goal of EDUCATE is to enable companies to learn how to access and use existing research to inform how they can conduct their own research – both ethically and objectively – in ways that support them to grow and sustain their business. The companies are supported by the programme to overcome tensions that can arise when what appears to be a viable commercial edtech may not be sound from an educational or sociopsychological perspective. This research training and mentorship programme had the objectives to support the participants to:. Learn how theories of change are useful within the design and development of educational technology, and how to operationalize these using a logic model approach. A more detailed account of the programme design and the key activities undertaken by participants is provided in Cukurova et al (2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
